/var/opinion - They're Ba-ack

The Network Computing revolution rears its beautiful head once again, thanks to Ajax.

What is Ajax, really? There's Ajax the technology, and then there's
the fact that Ajax makes it possible to provide a rich client experience
on a Web browser. Think about the latter for a moment. Wasn't that the
basic idea behind Network Computing?

Does anyone recall when IBM and Oracle pushed the concept of Network
Computers? Network Computing was all about delivering a rich client
experience without the price tag of a PC and a commercial PC operating
system. It also was about centralized storage and client management,
which would bring the total cost of ownership way down.

The concept was so logical and compelling that it struck fear in the
hearts of Microsoft and mainstream computer journalists. Microsoft
had the most to lose. The Network Computing environment promoted by
IBM and Oracle was, by necessity, platform-neutral. The goal was to
base everything on browsers and Java, making the hardware platform and
operating system irrelevant. You could participate in the revolution
with a powerful Windows PC equipped with Java, but the fact that you
ran Windows was incidental. It wasn't a necessary component.

The revolution self-destructed, however. Despite how sensible the concept
may have been, there were two things wrong with it. First, hardware
and Java weren't ready. Java applications were buggy, and most Network
Computing appliances walked software, they didn't run it.

But here's what really killed the movement. IBM, Sun and Oracle
discovered it was incredibly hard to make good money by selling truckloads
of cheap computing appliances and only a handful of powerful servers. It's
much more profitable to sell people massive computing power at the client
as well as the server end, even if the average user never takes full advantage
of the client machine's power.

The economic impact is also the reason why most computer journals hated
Network Computers. The success of Network Computing would scale down
the computing economy so much that advertising revenues would plummet.
As a result, the mainstream computing press printed reams of anti-NC
propaganda and hung on Microsoft's every word about the NetPC and
Zero-Administration Windows. Remember those? Right, these reactive
“initiatives” by Microsoft vanished the moment it became obvious that
the Network Computing revolution wasn't going to get off the ground.

Wasn't going to get off the ground—yet. I used to go show-hopping
with a presentation about Network Computing. I repeatedly predicted
that Network Computing was so sensible you could count on the
success of a Network Computing revolution, whether it happened that
year or in decades. I also predicted that it would be based on Java,
but I was careful to add that Java wasn't necessary. If Java flopped,
some other platform-neutral technique of delivering applications and
content would emerge in its place.

Hello Ajax. Ajax-based office suites are popping up everywhere, some
free as in FOSS, some free as in service, some nonfree and some free
with upgrade options. You can get a taste of the experience if you
sign up at www.ajax13.com for free access to a suite of Ajax-based
office applications. Or, you can try out Google's Docs and Spreadsheets
at docs.google.com. Better still, you'll find out why I still
prefer Java over Ajax by trying out the ThinkFree office suite beta
at www.thinkfree.com. ThinkFree lets you choose between a
lightweight and heavy-duty application. The lightweight applications are
Ajax-based, and the heavy-duty applications are Java-based. Both types
of applications are terrific, but the Java-based applications, such as
its heavy-duty word processor, is much more slick and polished than
the Ajax equivalent.

Here's why these efforts are much more likely to lead to a successful
Network Computing revolution. They take advantage of the relative
platform neutrality of browsers, but the success of these Web-based suites
is not tied to any hardware platform. In other words, the NC revolution
as pitched by IBM, Oracle and Sun expected you to buy a truck full of
cheap clients. These Ajax and Java Web-based applications will work on
a cheap client, but that's purely coincidental. This approach to the
Network Computing revolution doesn't hinge upon changing what you buy,
thus enabling hardware companies to keep selling you faster boxes with
decent profit margins.

That's where Linux comes in. If this Network Computing revolution
succeeds, OEMs will have one less reason to pay more to sell a Windows
box than a Linux box. If people begin to depend on Web-based office
applications, why pay Microsoft an OS tax on every unit when people can
get the same experience with Linux and Firefox?

Many people will voice most of the same fears and objections as they did
during the previous attempt to push Network Computing back in the late
1990s. If Web-based office suites pick up enough steam, you'll see these
fears dissipate.

I'm still a bigger fan of Java than Ajax, and the fact that Java is
going GPL may change the future of Web-based suites. But, even if we
end up with Java, we probably will thank Ajax for getting it started.
Regardless, I maintain that we will see a Network Computing revolution,
whether it's today or decades from now. And, when it happens, sooner or
later, it will be great for Linux.

Nicholas Petreley is Editor in Chief of Linux
Journal and a former programmer, teacher, analyst and
consultant who has been working with and writing about Linux for more
than ten years.